Premonition

Musician Kim Stanger returns to his hometown, but is troubled by a vague premonition that something is wrong. Indeed, his friends and family seem quite uncomfortable to see him. He particularly wants to see his father, but he learns that his father is dead. His family tells him that his father died of a heart attack while playing tennis four years ago, but Kim finds a number of discrepancies in the details they give him. He insists on finding out what really happened, even when everyone seems determined to stop him from learning the truth.

This episode kept me thinking it was an M. Night Shyamalan story, like there was going to be a twit or a hook but I did not know what it was. Was the main character dead? No, of course not. But something similar, and I have to think that Shyamalan was a big fan of this show growing up.

John Forsythe plays the oddly named 'Kim'. When the episode begins, he's returned home for the first time in four years. Apparently, he and his father had some falling out and Kim left town. But people around him are acting strangely....and he learns that his dad died around the time Kim left....and he claims no one told him! But it's not just that....all the details of the death have been kept from him and everyone is behaving oddly. So he vows to get to the bottom of this and sort out this mystery.

This is a very good episode of "Alfred Hitchcock"....eve better than the first. In fact, because it is better you wonder why "Premonition" is episode 2 and not 1. Regardless, it ha a nice atmosphere and is well worth your time....and it features a pretty amazing cast, with Warren Stevens, Cloris Leachman and George McCready in support.

John Forsythe ('Dynasty') plays Kim Stanger, a composer / musician who returns to the U. S. from Paris. He's had a premonition that something was very wrong back at home. He finds that his younger brother (Warren Stevens, "Forbidden Planet"), sister-in-law (Cloris Leachman, "The Last Picture Show") and her lawyer father (George Macready, "Paths of Glory") are all being extremely cagey about the fate of Kims' father Greg.

The less you know about this solid script (by Harold Swanton), the better. As I begin to work my way through this legendary TV series, I found that there was a real delight in getting to the "big reveal", in much the same way that the later, equally memorable series 'The Twilight Zone' also worked. And then I went back over the story in my mind, and realized that the clues to the end *were* there, a proper element of good writing.

Ably directed by Robert Stevens, who guided 44 episodes of this series in total (and who also worked on 'Suspense' and the aforementioned 'The Twilight Zone'), this is fine entertainment indeed, given gravitas by an excellent cast also including character actors Percy Helton ("20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"), Harry Tyler ("The Grapes of Wrath"), and Paul Brinegar ('Rawhide').

This is even better than the first episode, 'Revenge'.

Eight out of 10.

Good episode throughout. Doesn't exactly drawl you in but doesn't bore either.

This second episode is a bit bland, as any other suspense story. The plot not that exciting nor interesting, and only the ending is worth the watch. I am a bit tough with this episode, especially after the first amazing episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. But don't misunderstand what I mean here. It is a good episode if you forget the first one. And also keep in mind that the several hundred episodes to come will be, for most of them, far more exciting than this one. I did not feel that much concerned with this investigation, the man seeking the reasons why and how hid old man died. No, I did not feel that concerned.